Is The Transparent Smartphone Coming?

Are we going to get transparent smartphones any time soon? According to one company, this could be happening sooner than we think. This latest Taiwan-based company called Polyvision has introduced a prototype that they started showing around to media. However, not everyone thinks so. This question has actually been circulating for years now, with demos being shown at various shows including the latest Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Samsung received a lot of attention with its transparent TV screen. Typically, a new company comes in with a brand new prototype that shows pixels can be projected on a transparent glass, and a functional phone emerges.

After the Sony Xperia Pureness in 2009, the concept of a transparent screen proved that there were some challenges that needed to be overcome. The main issue is that a transparent screen cannot be backlit, and so the phone ends up being very dark. Also, there are usually problems with refresh rates and the speed of the display. Besides, it's not as if the entire phone can be transparent. The SIM card, for example, simply is not.

Still, a source close to the latest concept designs say that this will be a reality before the end of 2013, and a video appeared on YouTube showing some impressive proof. Mobile Geeks got their hands on the prototype from Taiwan which shows a fully working, almost-transparent device. But this device still has no operating system and could not be used as an actual smartphone. Will this turn into something you can but any time soon? Perhaps, but the better question is would you want to? Display quality is paramount, and people have gotten used to AMOLED and LCD screens. Right now, the Polyvision design has a long way to go.